Irish granny who was abandoned in blackberry bush as a baby hopes to find relatives

By MEGAN WHITE

25th November 2016,8:57 pm

Updated: 5th December 2016,10:21 am

A WOMAN dumped in a blackberry bush as a baby almost 80 years ago has come a step closer to identifying her Irish parents.

Anthea Ring was found by holidaymakers after they heard her cries.

The nine-month-old was covered in scratches from brambles but was otherwise healthy when she was found on the South Downs in West Sussex, southern England.

After searching for more than 25 years, Anthea, now 80 and a grandmother, has discovered from DNA tests she is 92 per cent Irish, and that a former convent school where she was found — Sompting — is linked to the area in Ireland she is descended from.

Anthea discovered that the school advertised for staff in Charlestown, Co Mayo, where her great-grandparents, the O’Donnells, are believed to be from. Another ancestor, named Coyne, lived in Galway.

This information suggests Anthea’s mother could have been a nun, or a girl sent to the school from Ireland. Making an appeal for relatives to get in touch, Anthea said: “It would be wonderful to be reunited with my family, just to know who they are.”

The 80-year-old’s story caused a sensation back in 1937, with Scotland Yard treating the incident as an attempted murder.

When the case was closed due to lack of evidence, Anthea was adopted by a couple in Surrey.